The
apostle Paul, writing by divine inspiration, tells us that God almighty has
from all eternity, chosen, predestinated, adopted and blessed us in Christ - “To the praise of the glory of his grace,
wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” With those words the Holy
Spirit reveals and declares to us one of the most comforting and delightful
truths of Holy Scripture, and that is the fact that there is an everlasting,
indissolvable, immutable union between the Lord Jesus Christ and his people.

I
cannot think of a theme more delightful to my soul. Our everlasting union with
Christ is the source and spring of all the blessings and benefits of grace
which we enjoy in this world and hope to enjoy in the world to come. Read the
first chapter of Ephesian again carefully. The Holy Spirit very specifically
states that everything is in Christ.
In the first fourteen verses of the chapter he uses the words “in Christ,” or their equivalent,
fourteen times. He means for us to understand that all the blessings and
benefits of God’s covenant grace are ours only by virtue of our union with
Christ. In Christ is love, mercy, grace, pardon, forgiveness, and eternal life.
Outside Christ there is nothing but wrath, judgment, death, curse, and
everlasting condemnation.

Our acceptance in Christ is spoken of as
something accomplished by the Lord God himself from eternity. It is not
something accomplished by us in time. Because it is something done by God and
done by God from eternity, it cannot in any way be dependent upon us (Eccles.
3:14). Our acceptance in the Beloved was not caused by something in us or done
by us; and it cannot be altered by anything in us or done by us, either good or
evil. Because it is a work of grace finished from eternity, it cannot be
changed. We did not cease to be accepted when we sinned in our father Adam,
when we came forth from the womb speaking lies, or when we lived all the days
of our rebellion with our fists in the very face of God. Having been saved by
God’s free grace in Christ, our acceptance has neither increased nor
diminished. Our acceptance is, as they say, “a done deal.” When we sin, God may
hide his face from us and chasten us; but he does not love or accept us any the
less. The Scripture does not say, “He hath made us acceptable in the beloved,”
but “He hath made us accepted in the
beloved.” There is therefore no possibility that God’s elect shall by some
means be made unaccepted, not even in the slightest degree.

Let
men hoot and holler all they want to about man’s part in salvation, man’s will,
man’s work, and man’s contribution, the Holy Spirit declares, “He,”
God the Father, “hath made,” from all eternity, before the foundation of the
world, “us,” you and me, vile, base, hell-bent, hell-deserving sinners
by nature, but chosen, redeemed, and called by his grace, “accepted,”highly
favored, honored, pleasing, and delightful to God himself, “in the Beloved,” the
Lord Jesus Christ, his dear Son, our Savior.